Demonstrated at E3 2005, the X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Audio Processor is capable of upconverting 16-bit audio to 24-bit audio. According to Chris Roper of IGN, who was able to listen to a demonstration, it’s able to convert all kinds of audio back into their original 24-bit/96 KHz masters. Looks like Creative has another product to attract audiophiles and possibly the general consumer - sounds good to me.

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Proving that no one is safe, the RIAA is once again going after Internet2 users. Described as a second-generation network serving universities and research institutes, Internet2 is the means by which students have illegally shared music with the i2hub program. The RIAA is filing lawsuits against 91 students from Berkeley to Harvard.

The other day we brought you our interview with Mark Rosewater, Head Designer of Magic: The Gathering and Head of Magic Research and Development. Today we bring you the next installment of Magic love in our interview with professional player Sam Gomersall and give you some insight into why people dedicate their lives to the game of Magic: the Gathering.

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Ubisoft has announced a sequel to the hit PC game Far Cry, titled Far Cry Instincts. The game story is pretty basic from what we’ve been told so far. Basically, it’s your job to survive the wilderness and take out mercenaries using every tactic and skill you know. The following bulletpoints about the game are quoted from Ubisoft’s press release:

It’s open season in a 100% open environment: Do whatever it takes to exterminate the mercenaries in any situation. Take cover in the undergrowth, set traps, kill by stealth, battle from extreme long range and gun-mounted vehicles and fight in close quarters or through the wilds of the island.

A real arsenal: Plunder an arsenal of responsive, realistic weapons and vehicles including ATVs, gunboats, hang gliders and much more. Turn the mercenaries’ stockpile into the instruments of their own destruction.

Entrepreneur.com has released it’s 2005 list of the 100 fastest growing companies in America with Huron Consulting Group, an IT consulting firm topping off the list. There’s quite a few internet marketing related business on the list with two in the top ten alone. It’s been a good year for internet advertising with estimates around $8.5 billion. That’s a lot of Google AdWords, Viagra emails and “Shoot the president and win an iPod” ads.

Yahoo! has begun the rollout of their Yahoo! Publisher service, offering a $5000 prize to the site which most creatively implements the new service, namely Y!Q. Y!Q allows site visitors to perform a contextual search in relation to the content that is displayed on the current page. For example, if I was at a site reading about the latest version of the Apple PowerBook and used the Yahoo! Publisher contextual search, it would display the most relevant search results at that moment in time regarding the new PowerBook. To me, it looks similar to Vibrant Media’s IntelliTXT ads, which I actually don’t mind too much.

We’re not too shocked that the Xbox 360 will be sold for around $300, but we’re curious about how profitable the machine is going to be for the first cycle of manufacturing. Aside from that, but I’m not sure if I’ll pick one up at launch. Ironically, I’m hoping that Microsoft can convince me to spend hundreds of dollars on launch day to get one as the thing just seems so damn cool. Either way, I can’t wait for the next-gen consoles to arrive.

I personally don’t own any LPs or EPs, but I might consider converting some of my dad’s albums later on. I honestly don’t see much in the collection, but some invaluable LPs like a Pryor record are just too good to let them go to waste. I could buy a new record player, but even with all these technological advances they still haven’t created a portable LP player. This CNet article presents a more rational solution to anyone that wants to preserve and convert their records.

Gross, yet sadly intriguing. If any of you try this mod/hack/disgusting feat - let us know, and take pictures.

“Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine” is a cockroach-controlled mobile robot system. The system uses a living Madagascan hissing cockroach atop a modified trackball to control the three-wheeled robot. Infrared sensors also provide navigation feedback to create a semi-intelligent system, with the cockroach as the CPU.